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triumph

Now that patch 3.3 is live on the WoW servers, all heroic instances reward badges of triumph. If you use the random LFG tool, you will get two extra badges for each heroic you complete.

And as you will also notice, there are vendors in the game for not only the triumph badges but also all the previous tiers of badge given out in Wrath. Since you can also swap your badges of triumph for any of these other badges on a 1:1 basis, badges of conquest, valour, heroism, and triumph are now equal. But the gear which you can buy with them is not.

Not only that, but different vendors charge different amounts of badges for items that fill similar slots. So how to get the best use of those badges? Is it really worth spending 60 badges on Tier 7 (heroism) shoulders when you could have yourself a set of shiny T9 shoulders for half the price? (That’s a rhetorical question by the way – with tier gear, the tier level reflects the item level of the gear. Or in other words, Tier 9 is better than Tier 7.)

The amount of badges charged for an item now bears little resemblance to how powerful it is. Sometimes you want to go all out for the best in slot items, and others you just want to replace something green with a nice shiny epic that people won’t laugh at. So to help out, I’m listing how much the different vendors charge for different pieces.

Generally speaking, triumph gear is better than conquest gear, which is better than valor gear, which is better than heroism gear. But this isn’t a universal truth, some specs or classes work better with lower tier trinkets for example. You’ll want to use this in conjunction with one of the gear guides below to figure out what’s the best value to get from your badges.

Note: The tier 9 (triumph badge) shoulders and gloves are a fantastic bargain at only 30 badges each. In fact, all of T9 is particularly good value – the vendors are located at the entrance to the Argent Coliseum.

Head:

Emblem of Triumph Vendor (Tier 9): 50 badges

Emblem of Triumph Vendor (non-set piece): 75 badges

Emblem of Conquest Vendor (Tier 8): 58 badges

Shoulders:

Emblem of Triumph Vendor (Tier 9): 30 badges

Emblem of Triumph Vendor: 45 badges

Emblem of Valor Vendor (Tier 7): 60 badges

Chest:

Emblem of Triumph Vendor (Tier 9): 50 badges

Emblem of Conquest Vendor (Tier 8): 58 badges

Emblem of Heroism Vendor (Tier 7): 80 badges

Legs:

Emblem of Triumph Vendor (Tier 9): 50 badges

Emblem of Conquest Vendor: 39 badges

Emblem of Valor Vendor (Tier 7): 75 badges

Hands:

Emblem of Triumph Vendor (Tier 9): 30 badges

Emblem of Conquest Vendor: 28 badges

Emblem of Heroism (Tier 7): 60 badges

Back/ Cloak:

Emblem of Valor Vendor: 25 badges

Wrist:

Emblem of Valor Vendor: 60 badges (bind on equip)

Belt:

Emblem of Conquest Vendor: 28 badges

Emblem of Heroism Vendor: 40 badges

Boots:

Emblem of Valor Vendor: 40 badges

Trinket:

Emblem of Triumph Vendor: 50 badges

Emblem of Heroism Vendor: 40 badges

Neck:

Emblem of Conquest Vendor: 19 badges

Emblem of Heroism Vendor: 25 badges

Ring:

Emblem of Triumph Vendor: 35 badges

Emblem of Valor Vendor: 25 badges

Relic/ Totem/ etc:

Emblem of Triumph Vendor: 25 badges

Emblem of Conquest Vendor: 19 badges

Emblem of Valor Vendor: 25 badges

Emblem of Heroism Vendor: 15 badges

Weapons etc:

Emblem of Triumph: throwing weapon/ wand 25 badges

Emblem of Heroism Vendor: various weapons and shields 15-50 badges. No tanking weapons, no 2 handers.

There are tools available to help you decide what the best upgrades are for your class and spec. The WoW armoury can also make suggestions to upgrades. You can also use the armoury to see what well geared friends on your server are using.

maxdps.com is handy because it includes green and blue quest items and drops, which is great if you are a new 80 and want to focus on getting your nose inside the door of heroics.

Kaliban’s Loot Lists includes tactics for all the various instance bosses that drop the loot he recommends for each class.

Rawr is a fantastic tool for tweaking the gear of the classes and specs that it supports. It does take a bit more effort to set up than the websites though.

Lots of good class blogs and websites also include gear guides and advice, googling should help to find them.